The question now is will Southland it get to air all episodes on Friday nights, or wind up burned off on Saturdays next summer?

NBC is pushing the sophomore season premiere date for "Southland" back a month.

The John Wells cop drama will now bow on Friday, Oct. 23, instead of its original Sept. 25 air date.

Insiders said the Peacock hopes to use the extra month to further promote the show, which they worried was getting lost in the fall marketing shuffle. New premiere date will move "Southland" away from the noisy launches of CBS' "Medium" and Fox's "Dollhouse," both of which were set to preem against "Southland" on Sept. 25.

Huh? Getting lost in the fall marketing shuffle. On a Friday? Fear of Dollhouse AND a show NBC opted NOT to pick up? That's an awful lot to digest. . "We fear for the fate of a show we deliberately slated to air FRIDAY nights because of a show we didn't renew and another show everyone including us thought would be canceled!"

Is this looking out for Southland or about bolstering The Jay Leno in the early days on a night where he has less competition? You can probably guess what I think (rhymes with Ray Speno...).